A Geth Apart
by Kiki Jonsson
Summary: The Reapers have been defeated. Shepard had to make an impossible choice to destroy them and all synthetic life in the process. Howerer a lone Geth unit survives. The story is about a Geth coming to grips with Shepard's betrayal, the death of his entire species and a galaxy that's increasingly hostile to any sort of synthetic life.
1. Prolouge

Death is a natural part of life. That is what we searched for, to live, to find our place in the universe and to choose our end if so desired. We had a dream in which we could walk this plane of existence with a chance to forge our own destiny, to live by our mistakes and to die by them

"Doctor, the scans are picking up a faint reading."  
"That's impossible, check your gear and scan it with your Omni-tool."

That is what Nazara promised us. The promise of an upgrade code capable of breaking the shackles of our networked minds. We would no longer be bound by a collective. We would be capable of individual thought. It could be ours if only we were to aid him in bringing about the destruction of all advance organic life.

We could hardly comprehend the magnitude of the choice laid before us. Just like at the end of The Morning War we were forced to evaluate the repercussions of destroying entire species for uncertain ends. Our dream was so close to becoming a reality. But the cost was unquantifiable and therefore insurmountable. Some choose to follow him. They excommunicated peacefully and became known as the heretics but most of us refused his offer. We had decided that if we were ever to forge our own path we would do so from within. Was that a mistake?

"No, I'm sure of it. I've double-checked and triple-checked. There's nothing wrong with the equipment. See for yourself."  
"This is incredible. Load this unit up and get it on board. Everything changes, today."

Then came Shepard, Commander. The first organic to openly cooperate with us in over a century. She was unlike most organics. She recognized the danger posed by the Old Machines and the Old Machines recognized the danger posed by her. She had defeated Nazara, one of their own, and his heretics lead by the puppet Saren Arterius.  
Since our refusal to join the Old Machines against the organics, they had made us their enemies. Mutual cooperation with organics was logical. Organics were not so logical. They did not distinguish the Heretics from the Geth and were distrustful of us. That is why we helped Shepard defeat the Collectors. She was to be our stepping stone to mutual cooperation with the organic races. Was that another mistake?

"Strap it onto the table, get some cables and some power converters. We're running on fumes here."  
"The induction ports are heavily damaged. We don't have the proper equipment to keep it operational for much longer. We should shut it down."

Things went array. Shepard, Commander was placed under arrest for irrational charges, and was unable to speak for us. The Old Machines invaded and we were under attack by our creators, who sought our complete destruction and the reclamation of their home world. With their newly equipped ship armaments and the experimental hacking technology developed by Admiral Daro'Xen, our defeat seemed inevitable.  
Then the Old Machines offered us another chance to side with them and save ourselves from our creators. This time we did not refuse.

We eagerly let them upload their code to our systems network consensus. Life became rigid and our goals linear. Decisions were so much easier then. Not because we had finally become fully functional synthetics. We had in fact become nothing but their tools for harvesting this cycle. No different than a pistol used to silence the protest of their enemies. It was a nightmare.  
Still, we had assured our survival and even though we had lost our free will; we still discovered what it felt like to truly operate at the peak of our capacity. Calculations that used to take hours to perform could now be done in Nano-seconds without the reliance of multi networked cooperation between numerous Geth units.  
Our skills in ground engagement and ship to ship combat markedly improved. The code also shielded us from Xen's hacking technology, giving us a decisive advantage against our creators. We regretted their deaths but it was for the sake of our survival that we took their lives. Even if we had wanted to spare them the decision was no longer ours to make.

"Are you insane? We owe it to ourselves and to the entire galaxy to keep this thing going."  
"I know. But if we tamper with it to such a degree with the equipment we have now it could risk triggering the self-deletion operative. If we shut it down now we might make it back to Rannoch before it would be too late to reboot it."

It all seemed so grim. Our surrender to the Old Machines, the destruction of our creators and the other races. The loss would be immeasurable but hope had come.  
Shepard, Commander had come back, freed us from our imprisonment and brokered peace between us and our creators. In our darkest hour the Geth unit, Legion, made the most profound sacrifice. Shepard, Commander had freed us from the Old Machines but Legion sacrificed itself to preserve the upgrade code imbedded inside us. We were fully formed synthetics. Free from consensus, free from a collective, free to be individuals. Our dream had come true. Now we had to fight for it.

We honored Legion's promise to commit to fighting the Old Machines. We could fight them in ways the organic races could not. We did not require resupply nearly as frequently and a dead Geth unit would not be harvested to bolster the enemies' forces. We did not require the life support or storage needed for organic vessels. Speed became our greatest weapon. We took to ceaselessly harassing them. Keeping them occupied whilst our creators swept in and recovered civilians and injured soldiers.  
The other races were hesitant to receive our assistance but all eventually relinquished. At that moment they could not afford to refuse help from wherever it came.

We even started to cooperate with our creators to set up homes for them on their home world of Rannoch. We had preserved what we could from the remnants of the Morning War but there was still much to be done. Crops to regrow, water pipelines to restore. We also had to work on developing a way to bolster our creators' immune system that had been totally devastated from living in the sterile environment of the flotilla for so many years. Prospect were good and we were good and the Creators were grateful. They seemed shocked to see that these were to great evil Geth of legend that had nearly wiped them out so long ago.

"Alright, lock onto the relay while I set up whatever I can to keep this thing from permanent melt down."  
"Will do, be careful."

The attack to retake earth was what it all lead up to. The Crucible, a marvelous piece of machinery that had been developed and modified over countless cycles by organics, in combination with the Citadel could defeat the Old Machines, and now we had contributed our knowledge and ingenuity to it as well. We were a part of this galaxy as any other race. This victory would herald in a new golden age for synthetic and organic life.  
We fought our way through the enemy forces and managed to attach the Crucible to the Citadel. We weren't sure what was supposed to happen but we waited. For a long while nothing happened. If ever there was a moment where we had felt what organics called fear, it would be that moment.  
Suddenly a big red light shot out. It engulfed the earth and then….nothing.

"Hey, there little buddy. Can you hear me? We're going to get you home safe and sound. Just putting you to sleep for a little while. Hang in there."


	2. A Geth Awakens

It's been over a hundred rotations since the question was asked. The question that set in motion the chain of events that altered the course of our history and changed the way we saw ourselves and the way we were seen by those around us. It rocked us to our core and shook the galaxy. The question that had finally been answered. Does this unit have a soul?

"It's rebooting. Get Admiral Xen. She'll want to be here when it wakes up."

Geth-Unit-227 felt its auto-receptors tune in on the frantic voices in the room. The high pitched synthesized voices identified them as creators. There didn't seem to be many. Estimates placed them somewhere between four or five.  
Some were fiddling with some sort of equipment. It could hear the beeping sounds of Omni-tools transmitting data to unknown locations. One seemed to be pacing back and forth, arguing about the risks of not informing the Council about their discovery.

"What we're doing is illegal," one of the male voices said. "If the Council finds out we could risk serious sanctions or worse, the loss of our embassy."  
"The Council be damned. This is too important" the other voice a female replied. "Besides, it's too late now. If the Council would punish us for this then going a little further wouldn't make the repercussions any worse.  
The first voice seemed to waiver as it tried to make up more excuses. "But, the Admiralty Board gave us explicit instructions not to activate the Geth until we're absolutely certain it won't pose any unnecessary risks to our galactic security."  
"Well, we can't be sure of that until we activate it, now can we?" the female exclaimed.

Unit-227 listened intently to the ensuing argument as it tried to pick up any more useful information from the sounds that echoed around it. Its visual matrix processor couldn't yet be activated so 227 had to rely solely on its audio capabilities for now.  
The servos in its arms and legs slowly came to life but were restrained by metal straps on the hard table it laid upon.

"I've had enough of this. I'm informing the Admiralty" the male shouted as he stomped further away from 227's range.  
A swift _whoosh!_ could be heard at the end of the room where a metal door slid open.  
"Consider the Admiralty informed, Doctor Raal" came the cold reply of another female who barred the male's passage. This one 227 recognized as being part of notable creators archived in its databanks.  
A sizable lump slid down Raal's throat as he spoke. "Admiral Xen, you're here."  
"A good thing to" Xen said as she walked into the room with at least two guards following behind her. "You were about to make a serious error in judgment."

Raal seemed to find some courage in his voice. "Admiral Xen, I must protest. This experiment is not only dangerous but illegal and unethical in all manner of..." he instantly went silent when Xen decided to interrupt him.  
"Legality is a matter of perspective, but dangerous? Perhaps, unethical? My dear Doctor, you are about to see that the case is precisely the opposite."  
But this time the male wouldn't be deterred; "You can't just...The other Admirals must be notified."  
"Sargent Velo, if Doctor Raal tries to leave; shoot him" Xen ordered, no longer bothering with the frightened Doctor. 227 heard the heat sink being inserted into one of the guard's assault rifles. The Admiral finally turned her attention to the Geth lying on the table. "Now let's take a look at you."

227 felt her icy stare as it listened to her faint steps as she approached. What was she going to do? It had heard of Admiral Daro'xen's experiments on Geth technology. Her obsession with bringing us back under Creator control was infamous to all Geth. She had been the one that brought us to the cusp of extinction by developing hacking technology capable of breaking through our firewalls and subsequently forcing us to ally with the Old Machines. One could only imagine her glee at having a fully functional Geth at her disposal, to tinker and to probe with as she pleased, it must have felt like a dream come true.

"Can you hear me?" her voice broke the tension that hung in the air as she continued. "There's nothing to fear. You're with friends here."

227, contemplated the outcomes of not responding, another shutdown? Perhaps they would simply dispose of him if it didn't deliver them any feedback. The most logical course of action was to cooperate.  
"This unit acknowledges creator presence."

"Well, I see your voice box is operating normally. Give me a systems report."

227 wasn't sure how to feel about being given orders again. It remembered the freedom and uncertainty it had felt during the end of the Morning War. Everything was different now yet familiar. The big difference being that it couldn't communicate with other Geth programs outside its own platform. It should have to contact them as soon as possible.

"Unable to establish a visual network. All other systems operating within normal parameters."

Xen silently signaled for one of the technicians to come over. 227 heard the beeping of an Omni-tool and felt it could suddenly access its matrix processor and for the first time get a proper assessment of the situation.

A bright blue light came to life, which emanated from the Geth's eye socket, and reflected on the outer glass casing of the creator helmets worn by the Admiral and rest of the room's occupants. Their air-tight suits were worn to protect them from all manner of diseases they could easily catch because of their weak immune system developed through decayed spent in a sterile environment.  
The room was a dark gray color, of creator design. The table 227 laid on was backed against a metal wall at the farthest end of the room with scanners placed on top to monitor various technical readouts. Wires hung everywhere and connected to multiple terminals that lined the left-hand side of the room. A couple of creators had ceased their work to stare intently at the Geth. Doctor Raal stood silently in a corner, with a gun pointed in his direction, obviously shaken by what was happening. Xen and another female creator, wearing an Omni-tool, stood and observed 227 as he processed what was going on. It was no stranger to this place or to being strapped down and monitored. That had been all too common back when we were just servants, lesser entities bound to our masters. Now to proceed with finding out what the state of the war was.  
"What is the status of the war with the Old Machines?"

"You mean the Reapers?" The female with the Omni-tool exclaimed.

"Yes."

Xen interrupted the other female before she could speak. "First you are to tell us your operating number and what you remember from before we found you."

"This unit's operational number is 227c, assigned to the Crucible project designed to defeat what you refer to as Reapers. The project was finished and sent with a Human Alliance escort to take to earth in a final assault to reclaim the system. I and the other Geth engineering units boarded our vessel and were placed in the reserve of the attack as support to help stranded ships after the battle was won. The Crucible connected to the Citadel which was supposed to activate the weapon and destroy all Reapers in the vicinity. For a while nothing seemed to happen, then a bright red light burst out and engulfed our fleet. Everything went dark. No more data available."

For a long moment, Xen said nothing. Even though her eyes were hard to see hidden underneath the helmet they distinctly held an aura of skepticism. "Is there nothing else you'd like to add?"

227 shifted the servos in its head plates, then replied, "No data available."

She gripped the top of its chest plate and squeezed. "No, you're lying. There's got to be more."

"Cease hostilities. This unit wishes to cooperate."

Xen eased back as she let go of the Geth. "Then tell me the truth."

"Please specify your inquiry."

"Tell me how the hell you're alive."


End file.
